Sunday, April 30, 2017

Last Saturday was the World Wide Sketchcrawl as well as Earth Day. I wanted to combine both of them. I went to an Eco-Carnival in Islip which was held at Seatuck.

I started with a sketch of some of the booths that were set up with the Seatuck building behind them.

There were all kinds of activities for kids, like face painting and crafts.

For lunch there was a BBQ company set up doing burgers, pulled pork and other assorted options. I started the sketch on site, but it started to rain...and that isn't good for watercolors or ink, so I left and finished the ink and color when I got home.

Today is the last day for "Tracy at the Ranch." You can follow the link to find out the end of Tracy's story.

Saturday, April 29, 2017

I've posted sketches from the Sideshow Sketch Night before. The models are people mostly from burlesque or from the sideshows at Coney Island. The models last week are a recently married couple. He is a little person with some physical deformities that necessitate a wheel chair. Apparently he sings and plays music too. They were the sweetest people. Compared to Sharpie Velour, the woman, Velvet Crayon is doll sized. During the evening there are contests and I won one for my 5th sketch down. We were supposed to sketch them for a Hallmark Valentine tender moment. I didn't do anything but sketch them the way they were posed, but my sketch won.

Friday, April 28, 2017

Last Wednesday my sketch group met at the library and people brought things to sketch with the theme of spring. My tulips had already had it, so I focused on the flowers that someone else brought for us to sketch. These were all from Pat's garden.

Thursday, April 27, 2017

It took me a while to get around to painting the flowers that my husband brought me for Easter. These were in a pot and I forgot to water them. Of course the petals started falling off, but I think it gives them a bit more character, don't you?

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Here is the third painting I did at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens last week. After the previous painting I had some time left to sketch. I did this in ink first so that I would at least have the sketch if I didn't get to paint the whole thing. Of course there were kids around the pond walkway, but I was sketching by a raised area of grass and was right up to the fence. Unfortunately two geese decided they wanted to visit that spot and they attracted a lot of kids. I was afraid to put anything down on the ground because the geese have been known to pick up brushes or paper towels and walk away with them. lol I didn't quite finish the piece there because a guard came over and told me they were closing the pond area for the day. It closes at 5:30 and we had been there since 9:30. I took a quick photo so I could finish it at home.

This weekend is the big Cherry Blossom Festival, the Sakura Matsuri which celebrates the traditional and contemporary Japanese culture amid the blossoming trees. If we thought it was crowded last week, I can't imagine what it is like this weekend. They always get incredible crowds. As much as it would be wonderful to experience the music and dancing, I'm glad we are missing it.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

If you read my post yesterday you know how crowded the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens were the day we visited. This painting was done along the central walkway that goes through the gardens. It was so crowded with people and many of them didn't hesitate to get in front of me (and I was up against a fence) to take a photo. Little kids were everywhere, women were dressing in kimonos to take photos...you get the idea. Nevertheless I persisted. lol This took a lot of time to do. It is hard working with masses of flowers everywhere. I also left out most of the people.

Monday, April 24, 2017

Last week my friend and I went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. We picked a weekday to go, hoping it wouldn't be too crowded. We were wrong because it was a free day. Every mom and little kid imaginable were there as well as all the photographers in Brooklyn. We wanted to paint the cherry blossoms by the Japanese pond and were running out of time. As it was they were past their peak. I found a spot to paint this where I was out of the public masses as much as possible...but later it just got worse. lol

I sketched a few people dining outside while we were waiting for our lunch.

Friday, April 21, 2017

Last week I stopped at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale. It felt like spring and was warm enough to be out of my car sketching. I looked for a magnolia tree in bloom, but the one that I could find only had buds. I'll have to go back and see if it is blooming yet, but by the time I get there it will probably be too late. lol

The arboretum does a wonderful job with tulips, but there weren't too many that were opened yet.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Last week my friend and I drove down to Philadelphia to see the exhibit "American Watercolors in the Time of Homer and Sargent." To say it was outstanding is putting it mildly. We left here at 6 am, stopped to have breakfast along the turnpike in NJ, and were outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art sketching at 9:30. As soon as the museum opened the sketching stopped.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Last Sunday I met my sister, Michelle, in the city to go see the American Watercolor Society Show. She came from NJ and I came from Long Island and met at 14th Street. We had time to walk up to Union Square and sketch for a while...and the temperature was perfect...a great spring day!

First I sketched the fountain.

I sketch faster than my sister, so I did a quick direct in ink sketch while she finished up.

Then it was off to lunch and then the watercolor show, which was wonderful! Michelle doesn't have my stamina for sketching so after the show she left to take her trains back home. For those of you who haven't gone sketching outdoors you tend to bring along a lot of stuff...a chair, your materials, an extra layer of clothes, maybe a hat and gloves. It does tend to wear you down when you are lugging all of it around all day. lol

After Michelle (Mickey) left I went back up to Union Square to do another sketch of some of the surrounding buildings.

Since I was in the city and it was only about 4 pm I decided to take the subway up to visit a friend who was in the hospital recovering from surgery. I called her to check that she was up to having company and hopped on the new Q line that stops at Union Square. It should have been a quick ride up to 72 St and 2nd Ave...but things didn't work out that way. The train stopped at 57th St and we were told it was turning around and going back to Brooklyn. The next two trains did the same thing. So I decided to walk from 57th St and 7th Ave to the hospital on 68th St and York Ave which is about 1.75 miles. It was warm and I was walking quickly. Poor Louise thought I wasn't coming since I arrived nearly 1 1/2 hrs after I called her. lol It was good to spend time with her since she had been in there for several days and was bored. I did take her for a walk around the hallways, which was something she needed to do. No sketches of that part. lol

Thursday, April 13, 2017

I took a ride to Westhampton last week. It is about 40 minutes from me. I was looking for a different water scene. This was done at a local park there. The houses you can see in the distance are all million dollar waterfront mansions that face the bay. The pole has an osprey nest on it. I just found out that osprey mate for life.

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

While my Wednesday evening sketch group has been indoors for the winter/early spring we have been having a theme for our gathering. Last week it was "things that shine." We had an assortment of objects to choose from.

I also sketched, Dominic, one of the new people to join our group this winter.

Friday, April 7, 2017

I've sketched this house, or parts of it several times. It is in a location where there is a small park across the street so I don't feel like a stalker when I sit there and sketch. lol This was done in Sayville.

Check in on "Tracy at the Ranch" if you have a minute. The first week of International Fake Journal Month is already over. Where did the time go?

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

We had a young, 13 year old girl pose for us the other night. She was the granddaughter of one of the members. I did a long study of her. I don't think I quite got her to look 13, but at least she doesn't look like an adult.

Monday, April 3, 2017

After sketching the dinosaurs below at the American Museum of Natural History I headed off to find the other sketchers. They were starting in an area that had New York birds. After greeting a few people I continued through the maze of small rooms coming to the dioramas of American birds. A few of them attracted my attention...like the cormorants from CA and the pelicans, also from CA. The light was dim in the room, but if you sat up close to the railing of the dioramas you could see to sketch.

After a lunch break we all headed back upstairs for a little more sketching. I moved into the primate room because these guys were just calling to be sketched.

Around 3:00 we met down in the cafeteria to have a drink and share our work. Dana took photos of each person sharing their work...so here I am showing my train sketch. We had about 20 people that day and it was great to go around the table and share our work.

Sunday, April 2, 2017

One of my reasons for getting to the Museum of Natural History before I was meeting everyone was I knew they were going to be sketching something different than I wanted to start with. I was not going to the museum without sketching a dinosaur. So I raced up to the dino floor and set up my chair against the wall. It is a good thing they are so tall because after a while the room got really crowded and the bottom of the dinosaurs were pretty much blocked. I did one in watercolors. I couldn't fit all of allosaurus on my page. lol

I had a little time left so I pulled out my Elegant Writer pen to do the apatosaurus. He definitely didn't fit on the page. I painted the two dinosaurs in about an hour and then headed off to find the sketchers on another floor.

The day 2 entry for my "fake" journal "Tracy at the Ranch" can be found here:

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Last Saturday I was meeting the NYC Urban Sketchers in the city at 11:00, but of course I went in early. I took the 7:40 train from Ronkonkoma into the city. There were sketching opportunities on the train.

We were meeting at the American Museum of Natural History. It opens at 10:00 and I was there at 9:30. That gave me a little time to do an ink sketch of the building from across Fifth Avenue before I got on the line to get in. I'm glad I was there early because everyone who came at 11:00 ended up waiting on line for about 45 minutes.

Yes, Fake Journal Month started today and I was ready with my first "fake journal" page. You can find Tracy's story here:

About Me

I am a watercolor artist living on Long Island. I try my best to paint or sketch something each day, preferring to do plein air painting. My favorite thing to do is travel and paint in new locations. I am a member of the North East Watercolor Society, the Wet Paints Studio Group, the South Bay Art Association, the PALS Plein Air Society, the Patchogue Sketch Club, the Patchogue Arts Council, and the NYC Urban Sketchers.
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